What and how important was India’s contribution to the overall Q2 results?
The Indian market is strategic for us. You can clearly see now in our operating performance…for the simple reason that India has been on a trajectory to digitalise the country for several years. That’s why we decided a few years back to invest more strategically in India, including establishing local manufacturing, having a strong R&D presence, etc. We can now have our products deployed and scaled in India, which really helps the company globally. We now have the leading 5G market share in India.ET reported that Ericsson is set to sign a 5G order worth over $2 billion with Reliance Jio. Your comments.
I’m not going to comment on specific customer interactions. But if you look at the build-out pace in India, it is second to none. Interestingly, India will get the infrastructure allowing startups, entrepreneurs, etc., to develop new applications that will benefit from 5G connectivity. Of course, to sell them in India, but even more critical will be to export to Europe, the US and other parts of the world.
Is Vodafone Idea’s financial situation a worry and a missed opportunity for Ericsson?
The financial situation for Vodafone Idea…they will have to sort out. Of course, we’ll be there. But, for now, we’re focused on our customers rolling out at scale.
Can you elaborate on Ericsson’s India manufacturing plans?
We will see exports from our production in India over time. Today, we’re serving the Indian market as it is a fast-growth market. But over time, we will build an ecosystem in India around sub-components and other types of sub-suppliers we need. So, we will have a stronger ecosystem that will allow us also to export cost-efficiently from India. Are Indian telcos discussing 5G monetisation with Ericsson?
There will be many different ways to monetise 5G. One, which is clearly fixed wireless access (FWA). But we also see mission-critical networks where you can sell a network slice. We invest heavily in network APIs where you can use the features of the network. For example, you can buy guaranteed network capacity or performance, speed or latency, or mobile-edge compute. All these network-driven features will be sold through a next-generation CPaaS solution. And that’s where we are investing in developing. For full interview, go to www.economictimes.com
